Thursday, 16 October 2014

Pie Tin - Newtown - Sydney, Australia.

Pie Tin

The sun was shining bright and it was a scorching hot Sunday in Sydney. It was the perfect weather for a catch up with friends. We arranged to meet at Pie Tin in Newtown for lunch. With me being unfamiliar with Newton, I relied on the GPS that was on the Iphone for walking directions. There are apparently two Brown Street's in Newton and I ended up at the wrong one. I was only aware of this when I asked one of the locals for directions who mentioned there are two. Don't be like me and depend on the GPS too much or Google Street View it ahead of time.

After walking 10 minutes or so from the other Brown Street, I ended up at the right Brown Street. Just as well, my friends were late, so we got there pretty much at a similar time. It's located off busy King Street, placed alongside residential buildings and positioned on the corner from all the action. This little cafe-style restaurant has a laid back and casual atmosphere, with the brick walls, a communal table, black stools and wooden tables occupying the space.

The 'Pie Tin' are well known for their fresh, handmade pies which are baked on premises daily. There are pies upon pies, both savoury and sweet, lining the clear glass shelves. They all look so tempting, especially the sweet ones.

We decided to share two savoury pies and two dessert pies between three people. Pies arrive shortly after placing our order.

The first is a 'Slow Roasted Smoky Beef Brisket & Mushroom Pie' with a side of 'Kumera (Sweet Potato)' and 'Potato Salad' ($11.00 - $14.00 for Pie Meal). The pastry was flaky without being excessively buttery. The beef brisket was soft and tender, and with the mushrooms and gravy sauce, this combination worked well. The smoky flavour wasn't strong and it was rather faint in taste which I preferred. They were overly generous with the potato salad. Look at the pile of potatoes on the verge of tipping over the side of the plate! It would have been easier to eat if the potatoes were cut into smaller pieces, but it was nice with the creamy mayonnaise coating nonetheless.

Our second choice is the 'Slow Roasted Shredded Pork with Apple & BBQ Sauce Pie' with 'Coleslaw Salad' and 'Green Salad' ($11.00 - $14.00 for Pie Meal). One of their popular pies and we had to try to see why. The pie was seasoned well with the melt-in-your-mouth shredded pork, though flavoursome, was a tad dry, as the ingredients may have absorbed the sauce. I much preferred the other one over this.

Excuse my messy plate. The insides of the pies.

We were most excited about the dessert pies. They looked delectable and we wanted to try them all. Given that we don't have huge stomachs and wanted to have ice-cream afterwards, we settled with two. Indeed, choosing was a very difficult decision as there were too many.

The 'Oreo Cookie Pie ($7.50-$10.50)' was staring at us in the cabinet. How could you say no to Oreo? The Oreo shortcrust pastry base is topped with a Oreo's cookies and cream mixture. Coupled with a 'dollop of fresh cream ($0.50)' it was superb. Rich and decadent but for one this may be too much. I personally liked this very much as I love Oreo's.

The 'Sweet Pumpkin Pie ($7.50-$10.50)' with a 'dollop of fresh cream ($0.50)' was much lighter and less sweet as compared to the Oreo pie as it didn't contain any chocolate. The pumpkin filling was smooth and creamy. My other two dining companions preferred this, finishing it very quickly.

The serves here are generous and the food is affordable. I would love to have tried more pies, even their version of the classic meat pie, but that's going to have to wait for next time. I'm quite fond of the typical supermarket frozen beef pies as I love the rich gravy it contains, but the pies here were decent, though not somewhere I would go out of the way to just eat pies unless I was in the area. A great afternoon catching up with a lovely bunch of people.

It was then over to the famed 'Cow and Moon' for their award winning ice-cream.